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TEPCO was ready to give up and abdicate on 14th March

March 18, 2011

The Mainichi Daily News carries this story. Even in the unprecedented situation after the quake and tsunami and with the nature of the radiation risks involved the reaction of some of the TEPCO employees is understandable; but that TEPCO as a Corporation was ready to give up and ask the SDF to bear all the risks smacks of Corporate cowardice and does not say much for the Corporation’s values:

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) told the government on March 14 that it wanted to withdraw all of its workers from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it has been learned.

TEPCO’s suggestion came two days after a cooling system failure caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami triggered a hydrogen blast at the plant’s No. 1 reactor. Though Prime Minister Naoto Kan rejected the proposal, the finding suggests that the power company was aware from an early stage that damage at the plant could develop into a nuclear disaster exposing workers to high levels of radiation. It is believed that TEPCO was prepared to let Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military handle the situation.

Several government sources said that TEPCO officials told Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda over the phone that the company wanted to withdraw all of its workers. Both government officials turned down the requests and reported them to Kan.

Shortly after 4 a.m. on March 15, Kan summoned TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu to the Prime Minister’s Office and told him pulling out was not an option. He added that a joint countermeasures headquarters would be set up.

Afterwards, the prime minister visited TEPCO’s head office in Tokyo and said, “This is not a matter of TEPCO going under; it’s about what will become of Japan.”

Government officials confirmed that TEPCO’s suggestions on the night of March 14 indicated the company wanted to pull out all of its workers.

At the same time complaints are smoldering within TEPCO over Kan’s response. TEPCO officials said that the company has 4,000 to 5,000 workers at the plant, including those from cooperating firms, but now only about 300 remain. They are working to control and restore power-generation stations.

“Saying, ‘I won’t allow you to pull out,’ is like saying, ‘Get exposed to radiation and keep going until you die,'” one member of the company commented.

TEPCO could well have allowed all workers who wished to do so to leave the plant while bearing their corporate responsibility. I am quite sure that there would have been many TEPCO employees who would have volunteered for emergency operations. Masataka Shimizu and TEPCO are no Samurai – but perhaps that is no longer a reasonable expectation. It does seem as if the military are now in control.


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Posted in Behaviour, Japan, Natural Disasters, Nuclear Power | 2 Comments »

Fukushima Dai-ichi situation worsening and TEPCO is unsure how to proceed

March 16, 2011

1100 CET: The SDF helicopter cooling attempt was aborted for high radiation levels above the plent. New cooling attempts will use a water cannon on a fire truck borrowed from the US military.

From Paris, the BBC’s Christian Fraser says that France’s decision to offer its Tokyo-based citizens the chance to leave is partially motivated by domestic political problems.

0830 CET: Japanese TV reports that an SDF helicopter has taken off to spray water onto the plant. Helicopter spraying will be difficult to direct accurately and was thought to be a “last resort”. This suggests that other options are not feasible.

It is snowing in Fukushima.

0730 CET: Some workers have returned as radiation levels have fallen at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. While the Nikkei has risen some 6%, TEPCO shares have tanked. They were untraded but were bid down by the daily limit and are down 24.7%.

The operation could take on a military footing and responsibility could shift from TEPCO to the military. The Japanese Defence Minister has just said that if cooling efforts fail, the SDF would move in and SDF helicopters would spray water onto the plant.

TEPCO press releases are worthless and give virtually no information and the main source of public information is by the Chief Cabinet Secretary’s Edano’s press conferences. He himself is  impressive and generates some trust but it means that all information is being “politically” vetted so as not to be too alarmist. But just the filtering of information itself leads to assumptions (which may or may not be justified) that the actual information is worse than is being released. TEPCO’s communications and press conferences are not impressive.

Status at 0600 CET 16th March:

Work at the reactors may have stopped because radiation levels were too high. Radiation is fluctuating and has reached high levels at times. Levels were being reported in milli Sieverts(mS) rather than micro Sieverts (μS). For short periods levels upto 11 mS (11,000 μS). The normal working limit of 100 mS was raised 3 days ago to 250 mS and levels have been higher in parts of the plant.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is being continuously subjected to new problems. All problems are unprecedented in the wake of the quake and the tsunami but TEPCO’s ability to cope is now raising cause for concern. Personnel from Toshiba, the manufacturer of the plant, have been called in by TEPCO. The initial plant design was to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8.2 and it has been through a magnitude 9.0 quake some 15 times stronger than the design value. But the height of the tsunami wave was something not designed for. TEPCO spokesmen are getting testy when questioned and this is also an indication that they are frustrated and confused.

I have revised my view that TEPCO was in control of the situation. TEPCO seems to be unsure how to proceed.

Reactor #3 containment vessel is damaged and emitting steam (smoke?) and radiation. TEPCO does not know what it is. Workers near the central control room were evacuated temporarily(?). Workers are evacuated at levels higher than 259 Milli Sieverts.

Reactor #4 spent fuel pool is getting dangerous again. Pictures of the fire on 15th here were shown by TEPCO. It seems as if radiation levels here are also too high for workers to approach and attempt cooling. Winds and/or radiation levels are preventing the use of helicopters to dump water onto the reactor#4 spent fuel pool through a hole in the building roof. No other way to get cooling started seems to have been found.

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Status at Fukishima Dai-ichi and Dai-ni nuclear power plants

March 15, 2011

1428 CET: Quake of magnitude 6.2 in Shizuoka south of Tokyo in the Tokai region of central Japan at approx. 10km depth reported on NHK World. Inland quake and therefore no chance of a tsunami. Nuclear plants in Shizuoka not affected and continue operation. No effects of this quake on TEPCO plants reported. Buildings in Tokyo reported to be swaying. JR Tokai Shinkansen trains suspended.

1400 CET: Radiation leak risk increases as TEPCO unable to pour water into No. 4 reactor’s storage pool for spent fuel.

1300 CET: Reuters – The International Atomic Energy Agency says Japan has monitored 150 people for radiation levels and carried out decontamination measures on 23

Radiation too high for TEPCO personnel to stay in Fukushima nuke plant control rooms

From Kyodo News: 1200 CET (2000 Local time)

The following is the known status as of Tuesday evening for each of the six reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the four reactors at the Fukushima No. 2 plant, both in Fukushima Prefecture, crippled by Friday’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

Fukushima No. 1

— Reactor No. 1 – Cooling failure, partial melting of core, vapor vented, hydrogen explosion, seawater pumped in.

— Reactor No. 2 – Cooling failure, seawater pumped in, fuel rods fully exposed temporarily, damage to containment system, potential meltdown feared.

— Reactor No. 3 – Cooling failure, partial melting of core feared, vapor vented, seawater pumped in, hydrogen explosion, high-level radiation measured nearby.

— Reactor No. 4 – Under maintenance when quake struck, fire caused possibly by hydrogen explosion at pool holding spent fuel rods, pool water levels feared receding.

— Reactor No. 5 – Under maintenance when quake struck.

— Reactor No. 6 – Under maintenance when quake struck.

Fukushima No. 2

— Reactor No. 1 – Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

— Reactor No. 2 – Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

— Reactor No. 3 – Cold shutdown.

— Reactor No. 4 – Cooling failure, then cold shutdown.

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Posted in Japan, Natural Disasters | 2 Comments »

Nuclear renaissance: Vietnam gets nuclear reactors from Russia and Japan, Japan gets access to rare earths

November 1, 2010

Now Vietnam is going nuclear with its first 2 plants coming from Russia and the next 2 from Japan. Unexploited rare earth deposits in Vietnam are receiving a great deal of attention from countries hit by the Chinese monopoly on rare earth supplies.

Chosun Ilbo reports

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet have called for increased trade and investment between their two countries. The two leaders met Sunday in Hanoi to seal a nuclear plant construction agreement and other bilateral deals. Under the $5 billion agreement, Russia will build Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant. Construction is expected to start in 2014.

Asahi Shimbun reports on a deal where Japan  gets access to the rare earth resources in Vietnam in exchange for two 1000 MW nuclear reactors worth 14.4 billion $ to the Japanese nuclear construction industry.

The nuclear reactor construction agreement, worth an estimated 1 trillion yen ($14.4 billion), gives the green light for Japanese companies to build nuclear facilities in an emerging nation’s fledgling nuclear industry for the first time.

The two reactors will be built in the southeastern province of Ninh Thuan and are scheduled to start operations in 2021. They will have a combined output of 2 gigawatts. Vietnam plans to build 14 nuclear reactors by 2030. Construction deals for four reactors in Ninh Thuan province have so far been agreed upon, including the two to be awarded to Japan. Russia won the rights to build two reactors in December last year.

Japan, which has been trying to use infrastructure exports as a springboard for its flagging economy, began bidding for the nuclear reactor project earlier this year. In August, a delegation of Japanese business leaders led by Japan’s industry minister visited Vietnam to lobby officials. They offered financial assistance and training for Vietnamese people.

Visiting Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Vietnamese Premier Nguyen Tan Dung also agreed on joint development of deposits in Vietnam of rare earth elements, part of a Japanese drive to reduce its reliance on China for supplies of the vital raw materials, which have been obstructed following a diplomatic dispute with Beijing.

A joint team of Japanese and Vietnamese businesses is currently applying for rare earth mining rights. The Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. discovered rare earth veins in the northern Lai Chau province about 10 years ago. Toyota Tsusho Corp., Sojitz Corp., and an arm of a Vietnamese public corporation have been preparing plans for joint development.

The underground reserves are believed to be capable of yielding 3,000 tons of rare earths a year, about 10 percent of Japan’s current annual requirement.

The Japanese government has offered to provide expertise and training in surveying, excavation, and processing the rare earth metals to Vietnam. Japan is also likely to dip into official development assistance to help the country build infrastructure such as roads and water supply near the mines. In a separate project, Sumitomo Corp. is looking into mining rare earths in Yen Bai province in the north of Vietnam.

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Nuclear Renaissance continues: Germany extends life of nuclear reactors

October 30, 2010

Der Spiegel:

Opponents of nuclear power suffered a setback in Berlin on Thursday as the federal parliament approved legislation that would effectively repeal Germany’s planned withdrawal from atomic power. Now nuclear plants can stay open an average of 12 years longer than originally planned.

Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, a member of Merkel’s CDU, countered  criticism by saying: “You are at a dead loss when it comes to energy policy.” He said the Greens, SPD and far-left Left Party were scaremongering and merely seeking to gain votes. “They are placing their party interests before the interests of the country,” he said. Röttgen also stated that his government’s energy plan — which foresees 80 percent of all electricity coming from clean energy sources by 2050 — was the most ambitious renewable energy program in the world.

The Green Party, in particular, sought in vain on Thursday to prevent the vote at the last minute.

Jörg van Essen, a senior party official with the FDP, angered many with his statement that, “it has never done any parliament in history good when a party appeared appeared wearing the same uniform,” a statement he made while staring at the Greens. Members of the party were angered by the statement, which they considered to be a comparison to the uniformed Nazi members of parliament during the Weimar Republic era.

Meanwhile, members of the government accused the Greens of disobeying parliament. “The Greens need to know one thing: The greater the racket they cause, the more damage they do to themselves in terms of how seriously they are taken outside,” said Peter Altmaier, a senior member of the CDU.

The quiet renaissance is continuing in other parts of Europe as well. The Financial Times points out that:

In Italy, which decommissioned its four power stations after the country voted for a moratorium following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the government is considering new nuclear power stations. Sweden has embarked on a similar path, voting earlier this summer to overturn a 30-year-old ban on new reactors. Neighbouring Finland has announced plans to build two reactors in addition to one already under construction. In the UK, the coalition government, is also backing new plants.

Several east European countries, many of which are dependent on gas imports from Russia, are also proposing new reactors.

“Globally, there is a nuclear revival,” says Colette Lewiner, head of the Energy and Utilities division at Capgemini, “but it is much bigger and sustained in Asian countries, in particular in China, which has proposals to put eight to nine reactors into operation a year.”

For Europe’s cash-strapped governments, hit by the credit crunch, extending the life of an existing reactor is much cheaper than building a new one. In France, for example, recent estimates suggested it would cost about €500m ($697m) to extend the life of a 1,000MW reactor for 20 years. This compares with a cost of about €3bn for the same capacity from a new one that would have a lifespan of about 60 years, says Ms Lewiner.

On the fuel supply side as well companies are developing strategies and positioning themselves to take advantage of the renaissance. From London South East comes the news that:

Severstal, the largest steelmaker in Russia, has made a bid approach for its first uranium asset in Spain, seeking to diversify its mining business and benefit from an expected rise in European demand for nuclear power.

Severstal has approached Berkeley Resources Ltd about a possible takeover of the uranium exploration company worth about A$304 million ($294.9 million), sending Berkeley shares sharply higher in London.  Severstal is considering a cash bid for Berkeley, also listed in Sydney, at A$2.00 (122 pence) per share, Berkeley said in a statement on Friday.

The big due diligence question will concern the start-up of a uranium concentrate line that is part of the Salamanca project, Renaissance Capital analyst Boris Krasnojenov said. The line operated for 16 years before closing in 2000 due to low uranium prices. ‘Some people believe that nuclear generation is the future for Europe because regulation measures linked to coal generation emissions will increase,’ Krasnojenov said.


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Now UK joins the nuclear renaissance with 8 plants approved

October 18, 2010

The quiet nuclear renaissance continues with the UK now announcing its plans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/8070810/Eight-new-nuclear-power-stations-despite-safety-and-clean-up-concerns.html

Chris Huhne, the UK Energy Secretary, has given the go-ahead for eight new nuclear power stations in Britain despite concerns about safety and the clean-up costs.

The new nuclear power stations will be built near existing sites in in Bradwell in Essex, Hartlepool, Heysham in Lancashire, Hinkley Point in Somerset, Oldbury in South Gloucestershire, Sellafield in Cumbria, Sizewell in Suffolk and Wylfa in Anglesey.

Three sites in Dungeness in Kent and Braystones and Kirksanton in Cumbria were ruled out due to concerns over the impact on wildlife and the Lake District National Park. The new stations will not start generating power until 2018 so the Government also plans to allow existing nuclear stations to extend their life.

Nuclear Engineering International reports that

 

AREVA EPR

 

The government also signed a regulatory justification for the AP1000 and EPR reactor designs. Following 2004 regulations, it is required to justify that new reactors are worth the potential radiological risk. Following three consultations have taken place—one on the regulatory review, and one on each design—the government decided not to launch a further public consultation on the matter.

The AP1000 is a Westinghouse designed  1154 MWe PWR nuclear power plant. The EPR reactor is an advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) offered by AREVA and which is being built in Finland, France and China.

 

Westinghouse AP1000: Westinghouse

 

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The quiet nuclear renaissance is already under way

October 10, 2010

 

The map shows the commercial nuclear power pla...

Commercial and planned nuclear plants around the world: Wikipedia

 

In spite of political posturing of many kinds,  nuclear power capacity worldwide is steadily increasing  with 58 reactors under construction in 15 countries. Most reactors on order or planned are in Asia, though there are plans for new units in 65 countries. In many countries which already have nuclear plants in operation significant capacity addition is being created by plant upgrading.

Quietly, the nuclear renaissance is already under way and the lead is in Asia.

The 2nd International Conference on Asian Nuclear Prospects 2010 (ANUP 2010) gets under way tomorrow at Mahabalipuram near Chennai, India.

Speaking on the occasion, chairman, Indian Atomic Energy Commission, and secretary department of atomic energy Srikumar Banerjee said that the major issue facing the sector was waste management.  R.K. Sinha, vice president, Indian Nuclear Society and director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, said around six new countries are interested to have atomic power plant and many of them will have one by 2030.

Of the 58 nuclear reactors currently under construction world-wide, 35 are in Asia (23 in China, 6 in Korea, 4 in India and 2 in Japan).

The Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Y.A. Sokolov said that current nuclear expansion remains centred in Asia. Of the twelve constructions started in 2009, ten were in Asia.

In addition to the new plants under construction, numerous power reactors in USA, Belgium, Sweden and Germany, for example, have had their generating capacity increased. In Switzerland, the capacity of its five reactors has been increased by 12.3%. In the USA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved 126 uprates totalling some 5600 MWe since 1977, a few of them “extended uprates” of up to 20%. Spain has had a program to add 810 MWe (11%) to its nuclear capacity through upgrading its nine reactors by up to 13%.  Some 519 MWe of the increase is already in place.  For instance, the Almarez nuclear plant is being boosted by more than 5% at a cost of US$ 50 million. Finland boosted the capacity of the original Olkiluoto plant by 29% to 1700 MWe. This plant started with two 660 MWe Swedish BWRs commissioned in 1978 and 1980. It is now licensed to operate to 2018. The Loviisa plant, with two VVER-440 (PWR) reactors, has been uprated by 90 MWe (10%). Sweden is uprating Forsmark plant by 13% (410 MWe) over 2008-10 at a cost of EUR 225 million, and Oskarshamn-3 by 21% to 1450 MWe at a cost of EUR 180 million.

Commissioner William C. Ostendorff, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the Keynote Address at  the Emerging Issues Policy Forum, Powering the Future 2010 Conference on 4th October in Florida. During his speech he said:

Despite the global financial crisis over the last two years, there still appears to be great interest in nuclear power worldwide. In September, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released its annual nuclear power projections. In these projections, the IAEA estimates that up to 10.4% of global electricity will come from nuclear reactors by the year 2030. This estimate is higher than last year’s estimate, which was up to 9% from nuclear power by 2030. The IAEA also made projections out to the year 2050, which estimated a maximum share of 11.9% from nuclear reactors.

Since the 2008 timeframe, the number of countries interested in the introduction of nuclear power has risen from 43 to about 65. Most of these countries are in Asia and Africa. At the same time, the number of countries planning to phase out their reactors has dropped. For example, you may have read that the German government decided last month to extend the life spans of its nuclear plants while alternative energy sources are developed.

I want to touch on one more subject before I close. I believe that it is important for the public to have trust and confidence in a strong regulator. A recent report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) compared nuclear accident risks with those from other energy sources. What caught my attention was the impressive safety record of the nuclear industry compared to other energy sectors.

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Posted in Development, Economy, Energy, Nuclear Power, Technology | 1 Comment »

Virus War! A taste of things to come?

September 24, 2010
Advertisement from the 1970s by American nucle...

Wikipedia:Advertisement from the 1970s by American nuclear-energy companies

(Reuters) –

A computer virus that attacks a widely used industrial system appears aimed mostly at Iran and its power suggests a state may have been involved in creating it, an expert at a U.S. technology company said on Friday.

Kevin Hogan, Senior Director of Security Response at Symantec, told Reuters 60 percent of the computers worldwide infected by the so-called Stuxnet worm were in Iran, indicating industrial plants in that country were the target. Hogan’s comments are the latest in a string of specialist comments on Stuxnet that have stirred speculation that Iran’s first nuclear power station, at Bushehr, has been targeted in a state-backed attempt at sabotage or espionage.

“It’s pretty clear that based on the infection behavior that installations in Iran are being targeted,” Hogan said of the virus which attacks Siemens AG‘s widely used industrial control systems.

“The numbers are off the charts,” he said, adding Symantec had located the IP addresses of the computers infected and traced the geographic spread of the malicious code. Diplomats and security sources say Western governments and Israel view sabotage as one way of slowing Iran’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making nuclear weapons but Tehran insists is for peaceful energy purposes. It was clear the worm’s creators had significant resources.

“We cannot rule out the possibility (of a state being behind it). Largely based on the resources, organization and in-depth knowledge across several fields — including specific knowledge of installations in Iran — it would have to be a state or a non-state actor with access to those kinds of (state) systems.”

BUSHEHR CONNECTION

Siemens was involved in the original design of the Bushehr reactor in the 1970s, when West Germany and France agreed to build the nuclear power station for the former Shah of Iran before he was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The company has said the malware is a Trojan worm that has spread via infected USB thumb drives, exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system that has since been resolved. Siemens, Microsoft and security experts who have studied the worm have yet to determine who created the malicious software, described by commentators as the world’s first known cyber “super weapon” designed to destroy a real-world target.

Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal, has hinted it could attack Iranian facilities if international diplomacy fails to curb Tehran’s nuclear designs. Israel has also developed a powerful cyberwarfare capacity. Major-General Amos Yadlin, chief of military intelligence, last year said Israeli armed forces had the means to provide network security and launch cyber attacks of their own.

In Washington, Vice Admiral Bernard McCullough, the head of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Cyber Command, told Reuters on Thursday after testifying about cyber operations before a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee, that the worm “has some capabilities we haven’t seen before.”

On Wednesday, Army General Keith Alexander, head of the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command, said his forces regarded the virus as “very sophisticated.”

Siemens is the world’s number one maker of industrial automation control systems, which are also the company’s bread-and-butter, but it was not immediately clear whether the specific Siemens systems targeted by Stuxnet are at Bushehr.

Computer virus wars instead of mass killing would be a preferable trend to virus wars as a precursor to mass killing.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68N2DY20100924?pageNumber=1

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